Gaming can be an expensive hobby. Buying a new console can put a serious strain on your wallet — even a refurbished Xbox Series S is likely to set you back a couple hundred bucks — and most new games tend to run for upwards of $70 a pop, which isn’t ideal when you’ve got other expenses to worry about.

Fortunately, there’s a bountiful feast of free-to-play games that you can access with an Xbox Series X or Series S, and a lot of them will provide hours of quality entertainment for you and your friends. Whether you’ve just blown all your fun money on a new console or you’re a budget-conscious gamer who’s itching for a new game to dive into, there’s a lot of fun to be had out there without draining your bank account.

10 Rocket League

Soccer With A Supercharged Twist

We’re gonna start with an oldie, but a goodie. Although it launched back in 2015, Rocket League combines motorsports with soccer in one of the most unique and beloved sports experiences in the past couple of console generations. The gameplay is simple and easy to pick up — use your high-octane machine to drive the ball down the field and try to shoot it into the goal — but the intense action provides a ton of fun and potential hours of entertainment.

It’s also got a fantastic multiplayer aspect to it. While you’re free to play solo if that’s your thing, Rocket League also supports crossplay, so you should never be lacking for opponents. And the continued support keeps things fresh, with new cars and other cosmetics popping up on a regular basis.

9 Warframe

An Ancient War Still Raging To This Day

Mashing together a third-person shooter with an action RPG isn’t something that always works out, but Warframe pulls it off surprisingly well, and it’s been doing it since 2013. Although it got off to a bit of a rough launch, a whopping 17 expansions (so far) over its lifetime have kept this hybrid game alive and dear to its fanbase.

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The latest update (at the time of writing), Whispers in the Walls, came out in December 2023, adding two new game modes (Alchemy and Nectracells), melee weapon mods, a brand new enemy faction, and a deeper dive into the backstory of the Entrati. With its multifaceted combat and high-tech motif, Warframe provides a ton of action with deep lore — for those who need a little extra story in their multiplayer games.

8 The Finals

Taking The FPS Genre A Step Further

One of the freshest free-to-play games out there, The Finals takes the tried-and-true first-person-shooter format and flips it on its head, placing you into a competitive reality show situation, kind of like the old Smash TV games, but this time, competing with a bunch of other living, breathing competitors. The three classes — light, medium, and heavy — provide multiple ways to match your play style, and it’s a lot of fun to experiment with them all as you sort out your game-winning strategies.

Since it’s still in its infancy (especially compared to some other games on this list), it’s hard to know what’s coming down the road for The Finals, but it’s already sitting near the top of our list of the best multiplayer games on the Series X|S, and its multiple team-based competitive aspect coupled with its fun variety of weapons have us excited to see what comes next for The Finals.

7 Fall Guys

A Candy-Coated Flopfest, In The Best Way

Not every competitive game has to get dark and gritty to be fun, and the bright, colorful world of Fall Guys is a testament to that ideology. A Battle Royale supporting up to 40 players at once, Fall Guys tosses your bright little6-feet tal beans into an ocean of random minigames, from avoiding being knocked into pits of slime to puzzles that will put your memory to the test.

If plain jelly beans aren’t enough for you, it’s also supported a number of licensed crossovers, letting you deck out your beans in styles from Disney’s Encanto, Street Fighter, and Invincible. Back in 2020, we gave it a 9.5/10, and even based on the 25-or-so minigames it supported at launch, we found that the floppy controls and character movements added to the fun factor, calling it “absolutely the game fans of shows like Takeshi’s Castle, Ninja Warrior, and It’s a Knockout have been dreaming about.”

6 Path Of Exile

An Epic Action RPG Alone Or With Friends

While most of the games in the free-to-play category have a heavy emphasis on multiplayer, if not requiring it fully, Path of Exile is a rare example of an FTP game that can be enjoyed equally on your own or with friends. This dark fantasy action RPG supports seven distinct character classes that all make different use of the core stats of Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence, letting you play with might, magic, or skill in whatever way you choose.

While the major cities across its landscape are filled with other players, most other areas are instanced, so you and your party — if you choose to have one — have free rein to adventure in it without any outside interference. Even with its age (having released for PC back in 2013), it’s got a format fans love and has even drawn envy from AAA game players, like the Diablo 4 fanbase.

5 Call Of Duty: Warzone

A Legacy Of Greatness You Can Play For Free

There are few game franchises out there with a more storied history than Call of Duty, so the fact that you can dive into a free-to-play multiplayer shooter like Warzone is a major gift to the players. A follow-up to Blackout mode from Black-Ops 4, Warzone ups the ante with Battle Royale, Plunder, and Resurgence modes offering a variety of ways to release your inner soldier.

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We gave Warzone a 9/10 when it launched back in 2020, making note of the huge number of players it’s able to support on a single map and the genuine Call of Duty feel that it manages to recreate despite its switch to a Battle Royale format. As our reviewer wrote: “With cross-play and cross-progression multiplayer fully integrated, there’s no reason to not play Warzone.”

4 Destiny 2

Fantasy Meets Sci-Fi, Wrapped Up In An Epic Shooter

When it comes to multiplayer FPS games, there are few more beloved than Destiny 2. Fusing sci-fi with fantasy, Destiny 2 combines strategic FPS action with lore-heavy elements more common in traditional RPGS and MMOs, merging them with stunning graphics. It also supports different classes that will let you battle it out with a variety of flashy abilities, from blades of light to flaming tornadoes.

In our re-review from 2023, David Rigtrup gave it a 9.1/10, especially highlighting its high-quality FPS gameplay, character customization, and consistent updates. As he put it, “If you’re looking for a big game to invest hundreds or even thousands of hours into (not to mention hundreds of dollars), then Destiny 2 might be the best game on the market.”

3 Apex Legends

Squad-Based Combat With A Titanfall Twist

Battle Royales are a pretty dominant force in the Free-To-Play category, and there aren’t many that hold players’ attention better than Apex Legends. Taking place in the same universe as Titanfall, it brings in familiar characters (up to 25 are playable as of the Season 19 update) while placing them in 60-player matches in teams of two to three.

When we reviewed the game back in 2019 (scoring it a perfect 10/10), we praised its unparalleled gunplay, excellent communication system, and fun character-based abilities. As our reviewer put it, “Within its genre, Apex Legends is a masterpiece and a game that other studios, and publishers, looking to cash in on the craze, will look towards for years.”

2 Halo Infinite: Multiplayer

A Multiplayer Experience Even Better Than The Campaign

Much like with Warzone, Halo Infinite Multiplayer takes a storied and beloved FPS and hands players a completely free multiplayer version to let their inner space marine compete with others in massive battles on alien worlds. While you’ll still have to pay the full price for the campaign of Halo Infinite, the multiplayer version comes as its own game, ready for you to dive into the fracas.

It’s also worth noting that this is the one console exclusive Xbox has on this list, and it’s a huge selling point for fans of the series. It’s got a ton of different game modes, including Slayer, Capture The Flag, Oddball, and Stockpile, giving the player plenty of ways to take the fight to the opposition.

1 Fortnite

The Greatest Virtual Toybox Of Them All

And of course, Fortnite stands at the top of the heap. As great as a lot of the other games on this list are, Fortnite is a cultural phenomenon — a household name even among non-gamers — and it’s been building that reputation year over year with gameplay that’s as solid as its marketing and merchandising.

Fortnite’s taken many forms over the years, and it’s also been host to a plethora of crossover events, letting you play around as anything from Star Wars stormtroopers to the giant chicken from Family Guy, keeping gameplay fresh through pop culture. And even if you’re a longtime Fortnite player, its developers still have plenty of other ideas cooking up all the time. Just look at LEGO Fortnite.

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